


No Hargreeves Left Behind

by Warmhandscoldheart



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Gen, Ghosts, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Sibling Bonding, The Mausoleum Incident, Time Travel, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-05 19:08:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17924636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warmhandscoldheart/pseuds/Warmhandscoldheart
Summary: Klaus ends up in a hospital after an accidental drug overdose. He leaves with some bad news.





	No Hargreeves Left Behind

Klaus had a fear of death. It came naturally with his powers. Good ol’ Sir Reginald Hargreeves hated that. He locked Klaus in a mausoleum to try to force the fear out of him, but he just made it worse. Unless he was high or drunk, he was constantly bombarded by the screams of the dead. No matter how hard he tried to shut them out, there they were, yelling his name, begging for him to listen to them. However, this fear didn’t stop it from constantly being on his mind. He figured he’d die in an alleyway, or beat to shit by a robber, or on the floor of a rave when his heart finally gives out, or when he finally decides enough is enough and strolls off the side of a building. But never, ever did he expect this. 

The steady beep of the heart monitor was enough to drive anyone insane, but especially a man going through withdrawal who just found out he had a chronic disease. It was grating against his skull. He took a deep breath and ripped the sensors off his skin. The momentary blissful silence was interrupted by an even louder constant high pitched sound. Instantly, the room was overcrowded with loud nurses fretting about him and messing with the wires and tubes connected to him. As soon as they came, they disappeared with everything back in order, leaving Klaus alone again. A small, silent tear slipped down his cheek as he turned to shut out the world.

“You’re going to have to tell them eventually,” came a voice from the other side of the room. “They are your family, you know.”

Klaus rolled his eyes and groaned. “Leave me alone, Ben. I don’t want to deal with this right now.”

“Wow, love you too.”

He sighed. “I love you, Ben.” For a moment, the only sound in the room was the beeping and hissing of the machines. Klaus spoke up again. “They wouldn’t care. Our siblings, they… well, you’ve seen how they act around me. They don’t take me seriously, they don’t notice when I’m gone. Not to mention I’m a horrible brother. Hell, I sold Five out to some fucking psychos for some drugs! Why would they suddenly care now that their poor, poor Klaus suddenly up and got himself… well, you know what.”

“Well, maybe if you sobered up, they wouldn’t have reason to believe that everything you say is just some part of a hallucination.”

A soft knock on the wooden door interrupted the two. He hissed at Ben before calling the person to come in. “Hi, I’m Clara, a nurse here at the hospital. I was wondering if there was anybody we could call? Maybe a family member or a close friend?”

Ben looks at her. “This is your chance, Klaus. Give her somebody’s number!”

Klaus’s hesitation made the nurse, Clara, a bit confused. “Should I come back another time?”

“No, no, no. There’s no use. Nobody would come.” 

“I see. Well, call if you think of somebody, okay? You don’t have to go through this alone.”

“I’ll be... Thank you.”

The door quietly clicked closed and Ben scoffed. “You’re sitting here, wallowing in your own misery, telling everybody that you’re so alone when you have five people you could call! I’m sick and tired having to sit here and watch you throw away the family you have. I wish I could have all of these people here for me. But no, I’m just stuck here with your pathetic ass.”

“Wow. Tell me how you really feel.” Klaus muttered. 

Klaus had to sit in that sterile room with only Ben and the voices of countless other dead to keep him company for weeks before he was finally let out. There he stood on the sidewalk, his overcoat hanging even looser off his shrunken frame. With a swing of his right foot, he turned to walk towards an alleyway he knew.

“Where are you going?” Ben scolded, but he didn’t really need an answer. He knew.

Klaus answered anyway. “I need another hit. I’m tired of sobriety.”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Klaus?” Ben was pissed. Klaus couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his brother that mad. “You are going to the Academy and you are telling our family! They can help!”

“I don’t need their fucking help. I don’t want to go on the doctor’s stupid meds. It’s not like I can afford them anyway! Besides, the only pills I want are the ones that will make me numb. Those are the ones that will help.”

“I swear--”

“Fuck off, Ben.” Klaus began to walk away, but without much conviction. His step faltered when he didn’t hear a response. “Uh, Ben? Don’t you have something witty to say?” He turned around and only saw an empty sidewalk behind him. “Fine.” Klaus’s voice broke, but he didn’t cry. He was stronger than that.

Across the city sat the rest of the Hargreeves family in the Umbrella Academy mansion. They all sat in the bar area, but none of them drank. In fact, most of them kicked that habit after the apocalypse. However, their ordinary, non-alcoholic conversation was soon interrupted by a long dead brother.

“What the fuck?” Five exclaimed. The others shouted in surprise. 

“Ben? Is that you?” Allison shakily asked.

He sighed. “Yes, it is. And as wonderful as it would be to catch up with you guys and have a whole family outing where we all spill our deepest secrets and eat flowers all day, there is a certain somebody missing from this equation.”

“Who, Klaus?” Luther scoffed. 

“Yes, Klaus! Your brother that’s been missing for the past two weeks; the one you guys didn’t care enough to go look for! He needs your help. He’s headed towards the alley by the theater. Go find him and bring him back here. It’s important.” And with that, Ben faded away. 

Five was the next to disappear, deciding using his powers was quicker than waiting for the others to drive him. Besides, he could at least try to talk Klaus down while they were on their way.

Klaus hadn’t spoken a word. Not to Five when he appeared next to him and punched him in the face when Klaus tried to push him away. Not to the others when they arrived, all paranoid and concerned. And not to Diego, who desperately tried to get him to talk by cracking the usual jokes. He just sat on the floor by the couch in the main room and stared off into the distance. The Hargreeves family passed nervous glances to each other, not exactly sure how to start things off.

Vanya spoke first. “Where were you?”

Klaus hesitated. His gaze drifting over to Ben, who motioned for him to answer. “I overdosed and ended up in the hospital. I just needed a hit and I guess it was laced with something because I blacked out in the park. And I woke up in that dumbass hospital room.”

“Why did they hold you for so long?” Diego knew enough about hospitals to know that ODs don’t usually take more than a week until discharge.

“They had to run other tests and… please don’t make me say it,” he winced.

“I don’t understand. What do you mean?” Luther frowned.

“Just say it,” Ben urged. “It’s like ripping of a band-aid, right?”

Klaus’s gaze whipped over to Ben and glared, hard. “Fine. I’m HIV positive.” And that’s when Klaus broke down. He always hated crying in front of his siblings, preferring to keep up the goofy façade. He was the comic relief of the family, and he liked that role. He never needed to be open about his feelings, he could always brush them off and nobody questioned it. But this time he couldn’t.

Allison and Luther gasped, Diego let out a string of curse words, Vanya dejectedly looked down at her hands, and Five whispered “Holy shit,” to himself. He pushed down the memories of the HIV/AIDS epidemic he had to see while he was working for the Commission and cringed at his brother. “Jesus, Klaus.”

“Yeah, well it’s my own goddam fault, isn’t it? Passing around needles, and well, you know. A man has to make money somehow, right?” He tried his hardest to crack a smile at his pitiful excuse for a joke at his own expense, but they all saw past it.

“Isn’t there a way to treat it? Like a medicine or something?” Allison shifted in her seat, holding her coffee cup close to her like it would protect her heart from the future trauma.

Klaus scoffed dryly. “Oh, yes there is. But it is also costs thousands of dollars that I don’t have unless I go back to doing what may have gotten me here in the first place. Not all of us are as rich and famous as you, dear sister of mine.” He could hear Ben tutting at him and decided to dial back the deflection. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped.”

Vanya shook her head. “Don’t apologize. You’re going through a lot and you’re stressed.”

“I can’t go on the medication because it’s too expensive. And no, I’m not asking any of you for money. I didn’t really even want to tell you guys. Stress and all, you know? You’ve been through a lot, and you don’t have to go through this too.”

“What are you talking about?” Diego tried his hardest to keep his anger out of his voice, resulting in a slight stutter. “Of course we’re going to help you!”

“Yeah, remember what we decided after we came back? No Hargreeves left behind, and that wasn’t just for my sake.” Vanya’s voice was much quieter than Diego’s, and for that Klaus was grateful. “We’re a team. We’re here for each other every step of the way.”

“And if that means we have to chip in a few dollars, you damn better know we are going to do that.” Luther added, puffing out his chest.

Klaus honestly had no idea what to say. He sat back against the couch, stunned. Why was his family doing this? They had no reason to be there for him, yet here they were offering up their hard earned money to get him medicine for something that was his own fault. He sniffled and wiped his nose against his sleeve. “I don’t know what to say, you guys.” He cleared his throat and continued. “Thank you all so much.”

Suddenly he was surrounded by the warm, protective arms of his five brothers and sisters. After a moment, another set of arms, Ben’s, was added to the pile. Klaus’s wet gaze connected with Ben’s. Thank you, he mouthed silently at him, before closing his eyes and enjoying his family’s loving embrace.


End file.
